Fire Starter Bags

You are in your backyard, your friends backyard or in the middle of the woods and you have to start the fire to bake marshmallows, hotdogs or just get warm.

What do you do?

Look for some old papers, cardboard, small leaves, branches and that takes up some time which you could have spent enjoying the crackling of the fire.

Making a fire starting bag and tossing it in to your car or backpack will alleviate that headache of looking for things and save you some time.

1. Cotton fabric (that you don’t use for example old bedsheets, clothing, etc.)
2. Branches or anything else small and easy to light on fire
3. Old papers or cardboard
4. Needle
5. Thread

Optional:

1. Linen yarn (looks good and burns easily)
2. Sewing machine (could be used instead of hand stitching)

Cut the fabric into long strips. It is up to you to choose the size, depending on how big you want the bag to be and how much fabric you have. (I used sizes in between (width x length starting from 14 x 45 cm to 20 x 50 cm). I don’t recommend making them smaller than 10 cm (width) and 20 cm in (length), but again, it is up to you.)

If you won’t be using linen yarn, then cut some smaller strips like 2 - 4 cm in width that will later be used tie the bags.

Fold the fabric in a way that the “good” side is on the inside.

Sew the sides closed. (I recommend going over them 2 or 3 times, for security, also the sewing machine can be used to do this step.) The stitching doesn’t have to look good; it just has to hold :)

Note: It is also okay if the fabric is not a perfect rectangle at the top, it can still work, as long as the sides are sewed together.

Flip the fabric inside out. (The “good” side is now on the outside.)

Fill the bag with the paper and branches. I recommend adding more paper on top and also scattering it around the whole bag. And also leaving a paper sticking out of the bag, so it can be easily lit when lighting the bag.

Tie it closed with the linen yarn or the smaller pieces that were cut in the beginning.

🔥 Light it and enjoy the fire. 🔥